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Monthly Archives: August 2016

Welsh Wednesdays – Review: “Midnight Sky” by Jan Ruth

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 14 Comments

51rDDiF76yLSome of you might remember Jan Ruth from my interview with her on Welsh Wednesdays
Today I can finally present my review of her novel “Midnight Sky.”
I heard so much good about Jan’s writing that I feared I would be disappointed. Turns out, I was not. The book is really well written and has characters with substance and bite.
There is a dark tone to it that befits the setting in North Wales and Chester. You immediately picture dark and moody ‘Hinterland’ scenery. Knowing the area well personally has helped me to visualise is and feel the setting.
There is a lot of drama in the family and romantic relations portrayed, tough choices, conflict between lovers and family, overcoming the past, modern issues such as abortion, grief… The book really has a lot going for it with deep writing, food for thought and a captivating atmospheric style.
I was very impressed and am looking forward to the rest of the author’s back catalogue. A real find.

shutterstock_149979305

 

From my interview:

As an author I have been described as a combination of literary-contemporary-romantic-comedy-rural-realism-family-saga; oh, and with an occasional criminal twist and a lot of the time, written from the male viewpoint. No question my books are Contemporary. Family and Realism; these two must surely go hand-in-hand, yes? So, although you’ll discover plenty of escapism, I hope you’ll also be able to relate to my characters as they stumble through a minefield of relationships.

I hesitate to use the word romance. It’s a misunderstood and mistreated word and despite the huge part it plays in the market, attracts an element of disdain. If romance says young, fluffy and something to avoid, maybe my novels will change your mind since many of my central characters are in their forties and fifties. Grown-up love is rather different, and this is where I try to bring that sense of realism into play without compromising the escapism.

More on:

https://janruthblog.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/my-affair-with-john-hudspith-and-why-i-had-to-leave-self-publishing/

https://janruthblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/publishing-a-lot-of-smoke-and-mirrors/

 

https://janruthblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/01/the-wisdom-of-hindsight/

Bio: B&W lake (1)

Jan Ruth writes contemporary fiction about the darker side of the family dynamic with a generous helping of humour, horses and dogs. Her books blend the serenities of rural life with the headaches of city business, exploring the endless complexities of relationships.

ABOUT JAN RUTH

The real story began at school, with prizes for short stories and poetry. She failed all things mathematical and scientific, and to this day struggles to make sense of anything numerical.

Her first novel – written in 1986 – attracted the attention of an agent who was trying to set up her own company, Love Stories Ltd. It was a project aiming to champion those books of substance which contained a romantic element but were perhaps directed towards the more mature reader and consistently fell through the net in traditional publishing. Sadly, the project failed to get the right financial backing.

Many years later Jan’s second novel, Wild Water, was taken on by Jane Judd, literary agent. Judd was a huge inspiration, but the book failed to find the right niche with a publisher. It didn’t fall into a specific category and, narrated mostly from the male viewpoint, it was considered out of genre for most publishers and too much of a risk.

Amazon changed the face of the industry with the advent of self-publishing; opening up the market for readers to decide the fate of those previously spurned novels. Jan went on to successfully publish several works of fiction and short story collections and after a brief partnership with Access Press in 2015, has returned to the freedom of independent publishing.

BLOG: https://janruthblog.wordpress.com/

WEBSITE: http://janruth.com/

Connect with Jan:

FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/pages/JAN-RU…

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/JanRuthAuthor

Jan Facebook Banner

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Tenby Book Fair – Authors and Short Story Competitions

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

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Coming September 24th: The Tenby Book Fair – great authors, (me included), great location, great programme – check it out and mark in your diary

Judith Barrow

Introducing the authors who will be at the Tenby Book Fair, http://bit.ly/27XORTh, the first event of the Tenby Arts Festival http://bit.ly/24eOVtl .  I’m looking forward to having many more such chats over the next couple of weeks. 

So far (there are more to come!!) I’ve cross-examined interviewed Rebecca Bryn: http://bit.ly/1XYWbtF, Thorne Moore: http://bit.ly/1P6zDQh , Matt Johnson: http://bit.ly/1RUqJFg , Christoph Fischer: http://bit.ly/1svniAr , Sally Spedding: http://bit.ly/1VNRQci, Wendy Steele: http://bit.ly/1PMoF8i ,Kathy MIles:  http://bit.ly/1twN3Bg , Carol Lovekin:http://bit.ly/1Y2z6HT, Colin R Parsons: http://bit.ly/1tvBc5G , Lisa Shambrook: http://bit.ly/28NMI5v:  ,Alex Martin:  http://bit.ly/28VLsQG ,  Judith Arnopp:  http://bit.ly/290cJMl , Sharon Tregenza: http://bit.ly/29frGPq    Juliet Greenwood:http://bit.ly/29jylrM , Nigel Williams: http://bit.ly/29racfO ,Alys Einion:  http://bit.ly/29l5izl  and Julie McGowan: http://bit.ly/29CHNa9  And thanks to Thorne Moore for interviewing me: http://bit.ly/1VTvqGq  Over the next week or two I’ll be introducing the rest of the authors. I’ll also be showcasing the publishers who will be in attendance and who will be…

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WELSH WEDNESDAYS: Today With Gwasg Honno/Honno Press

31 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

We’ve met all twenty-seven authors who will be at the Tenby Book Fair, the first event of the Tenby Arts Festival  There are many genres and many books to browse over. And twenty-seven…

Source: Today With Gwasg Honno/Honno Press

No interview, just a straightforward introduction.

Gwasg Honno/Honno Press is an independent women’s press based in Aberystwyth. Honno is currently celebrating its thirtieth year, making it the longest standing independent women’s press in the UK. Honno was founded around a kitchen table with the aim of bringing forgotten women’s writing from Wales back into print. Welsh language publishing in Wales has always been a strength, but often Welsh women’s writing, particularly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was often in English and fell out of print. To raise funds shares in a non-profit mutual and provident society were issued and Honno Press began to publish in earnest. In subsequent years, Arts Council and then government funding through the Welsh Books Council allowed Honno to publish contemporary fiction alongside the Welsh Women’s Classics. Today the press issues seven to ten new titles a year, including Welsh and English language classics. Honno titles have had mainstream success in the bestseller lists and elsewhere – Thorne Moore’s A Time for Silence top ten ebook in the Bookseller – Lindsay Ashford’s The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen adapted for radio and television – Kitty Sewell’s The Icetrap sold in the US and translated in to 7+ foreign languages and shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year, winning the reader’s award… just to name a few accolades.

Caroline Oakley, Honno’s publisher who will be appearing at the Tenby Bookfair said: ‘Honno’s continued success in a cut throat business testifies to the strength and breadth of women’s writing in Wales and the support from readers in and beyond Wales. Honno operates an open commissioning policy and is happy to mentor women from their first attempts at writing to bestsellerdom. There’s nothing more satisfying than working on writing, marketing and publishing with an author who will bring pleasure to readers everywhere.

 Find Honno and all their authors’ books at: http://honno.co.uk/

#Mystery Mondays: The Body in the Snow – A Bebe Bollinger #Mystery #ComingSoon

30 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 23 Comments

Bebe cut

Cover image by Daz Smith

Further to my posts about my forthcoming cosy murder mystery “The Body in the Snow”

I now have the approximate time table for its release:

We are all set to release the paperback in time for the Tenby Book Fair on September 24th. (To make sure I have the physical copies shipped in time, the paperback version will be available for hardcore fans a few days prior to that.)

The e-book should be up for pre-order no later than September 14th

THE BODY IN THE SNOW – A BEBE BOLLINGER MURDER MYSTERY:

Fading celebrity Bebe Bollinger is on the wrong side of fifty and dreaming of a return to the limelight. When a TV show offers the chance of a comeback, Bebe grabs it with both hands – not even a lazy agent, her embarrassing daughter, irritating neighbours or a catastrophic snowfall will derail her moment of glory. But when a body is found in her sleepy Welsh hamlet, scandal threatens.
Detective Sergeant Beth Cooper has a string of unsolved cases to her name. Her girlfriend left her and she’s a fish out of water in rural West Wales. Things couldn’t get much worse – until the case of the Body in The Snow lands in her lap. 

Can Beth solve the case and save her career and can Bebe make her comeback?  All will be revealed in this light-hearted, cosy murder mystery by best-selling and award winning historical and crime fiction novelist Christoph Fischer.

Bebe 1

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Picture courtesy of Neil Deardon @Manchester Author Event 2016

Aspects of writing — The Past with Christoph Fischer

27 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

SHEANNEMOORE and her hamster dudes were hosting me yesterday to talk about “aspects of writing the past”
Please head over and have a look. It’s a fun blog to follow, in any case. Thanks Ms S for having me!

The Heroine’s Journey of Mary Ann Bernal

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Meet gifted historical novelist Mary Ann Bernal in this interview reblog. I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing the first of her amazing series, and have been working with Mary Ann in her capacity as editor. I’m compelled to share her Heroine’s Journey here. Enjoy!

The Heroine's Journey

What is the best thing that I love about my work? I love being able to share my passion for history, breathing life into ancient characters and reminding the modern reader that they were just like us.

What is my idea of perfect happiness? Perfect happiness is being at peace with one’s self as you tackle the challenges of life.

What is my greatest fear? Having hatred and violence escalate into another world war.

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself? Lack of patience, but I’m working on that.

What is my greatest extravagance? Owning DVDs of my favorite TV shows and movies; I just “have to have them!” I especially love the behind the scenes extras, enlightening harmless gossip while enjoying a bowl of popcorn.

On what occasion would I lie? Only little white lies to keep feelings from being hurt, but I’d rather not say…

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Review: Toccata Obbligato ~ Serenading Kyra (Out of the Box #2.5) by Jennifer Theriot

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

23361159I know that many of you love novels set in the music business, with rock stars and a good bad guy. Jennifer Theriot, not a stranger to my blog at all, has delivered us one of those men. He is real, although adored and surrounded by groupies and adoration – he wants something more.
Who would be better suited than someone who doesn’t adore him, not know of his music and isn’t interested in that kind of life at all?
Now there is a challenge anda  good beginning for a interesting romance story.
Knowing Jennifer from the Ice Bucket challenge I am familiar with her actual voice, which made me stumble over the male voice in her book at first, But she wrote Todd so well adn authentic, I soon forgot it was her telling us the story.
The novel is beautiful, funny and sexy.
As someone on Goodreads said: “A brilliant addition to her series and proof of her talent as an author. Very impressive!”

The book on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Blurb:
Todd O’Malley has been called many things, from filthy mouthed jerk to legendary Rock God. With his outlandish cocky demeanor – tatted up and pierced, to his constant use of the F-bomb, and the seductive gyrations he performs for the ladies on stage, he is a man every woman craves. But there is only one woman who is able to capture his heart, Kyra Edwards.
That chance meeting at a little coffee shop in Evanston began their journey of compromise, pain, dedication and love.
From the night he took her virginity to Todd’s past sex-capades and consequences threatening their relationship, will Kyra be able to deal with it? With Todd and his band Avenue touring on the road, can he prove to Kyra that he is a changed man? Can he be faithful and avoid temptation?
Jennifer Theriot brings us yet another love story that will capture our hearts. This is truly a story of Beauty and the Beast, where we admire the beauty that is Kyra and adore the beast known as Todd.

You loved him in the Out of the Box series….see what makes him tick within the pages of Toccata Obbligato ~ Serenading Kyra and meet the woman who won his heart.

JENNIFER THERIOTJennifer

Jennifer Theriot hails from the Great State of Texas. She is a career woman, working as CFO of a Texas based real estate investment firm by day and does her writing at nights and on weekends. In her limited spare time, Jennifer enjoys being outdoors; preferably somewhere on a beach curled up with a good book. Spending time with family and friends, listening to music, watching a baseball game and enjoying a good bottle of wine are usually on her to-do lists. She’s mom to three grown children and ‘MiMi’ to three grandkids – all of whom she adores!
Her best-selling Out of the Box Series, OUT OF THE BOX AWAKENING, OUT OF THE BOX REGIFTED and TOCCATA OBBLIGATO~SERENADING KYRA are currently available on Amazon.com . The final in the Out of the Box series, OUT OF THE BOX EVERLASTING will be released in 2015.

www.jennifertheriot.com

www.facebook.com/JenniferTheriotAuthor

www.twitter.com/jentheriot

Author @BRChitwood releases CLOUD DANCER #timetravel |

25 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Author Billy Ray Chitwood has done it again. As a writer of multiple genres, including mystery, suspense, and romance, Billy Ray is reaching for something new and exciting with his latest…

Source: Author @BRChitwood releases CLOUD DANCER #timetravel

Author @BRChitwood releases CLOUD DANCER #timetravel

Author Billy Ray Chitwood has done it again.

As a writer of multiple genres, including mystery, suspense, and romance, Billy Ray is reaching for something new and exciting with his latest, Cloud Dancer. In a recent blog, he confided it is his wife’s belief that he has Cherokee in his blood.

For this reason, Billy Ray ventured into the writing of Cloud Dancer, a love story set in modern times and in 1838. It also explores the pain and suffering of the Cherokee along the historic ‘Trail of Tears.”

It’s currently available, so be sure to get your copy!

* * * *

cloud dancer

Buy the e-book from Amazon

Paperback: Amazon US

A freeway accident in his modern world changes the life of Blake Fielding as he is transported back in time to the infamous ‘Trail of Tears”. Back in today’s world, he finds murder, mystery, and the woman of his dreams. This is a book that takes the reader to the pinnacle of love, crosses genres, and reveals the soul-rending fate of a people who suffered the inequities of history.

*   *   *   *

Connect to Billy Ray

br chitwood 3

Website | Blog | Twitter @brchitwood | Independent Authors Network

Amazon Page US | Amazon Page UK | Goodreads | About Me

|

The Other Twin | Lesley Hayes

25 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Fantastic News: One of my favorite writers released a new book. Lesley Hayes won my “Writer of the Year Award”, so this is big news.

Source: The Other Twin | Lesley Hayes

THE OTHER TWIN

AUGUST 20, 2016 LESLEY 3 COMMENTS

The Other Twin-cover

As anyone who has read my novel The Drowned Phoenician Sailor knows, I am intrigued by the special connection shared by twins. Like Verity, the central character in The Other Twin, I was born under the aegis of the zodiac sign Gemini, and perhaps that has fuelled my fascination. The twins I have known in real life (I always feel compelled to add “whatever that is” when I use that term) are not joined at the hip emotionally, and are often at odds, resentful of the assumption that they will think alike, dress alike, and get on like a house on fire. Setting each other’s houses on fire is more likely, from what I’ve observed – the uneasy sense that each is stealing part of themselves they want back, but can never have while the other twin is around.

Of course there are twins, I’m sure, who are happy with the mirror image each offers, and enjoy spending time together and sharing their toys, their clothes, their friends, and maybe even their lovers – but they aren’t the ones who intrigue me. As with all my novels, it’s the shadow that grabs my interest, the dark side of our loving, generous natures; the part of us that is driven by powerful desires that sometimes shame and frighten us with their intensity.

I’ve written before about the process of writing a novel, and each time – much like a love affair – it’s both familiar and yet unique. This novel was written in various stages, begun soon after I finished writing Dangerous People, while I was grieving the loss of those characters. (I said it was like a love affair.) I recognize, as probably many of my readers do, that there are certain archetypes that emerge again and again in my writing. As a psychologist I am well aware that there is some deep angst in my psyche I am attempting to exorcise – but it’s best just to acknowledge that rather than try and analyse it. Ripping the wings off a creative butterfly is never particularly useful. I’ll leave it to the critics.

There are times when it seems the universe hurls great Sisyphean boulders in our path to block us – or as I prefer to think of it, challenge us. During the early months of writing I was simultaneously orchestrating a move from the house I have lived in for thirty years. Anyone who has done this knows what a tortuous labour house buying and selling can be, and this was no easy ride. I was full of enthusiasm that gradually morphed into cynicism (not a comfortable fit for me) as I learned the hard way that not everyone can be trusted to play by the same rules as me. On the plus side, I gave roomfuls and cupboardfuls of stuff away to charity, and pared my belongings down to an almost Zenlike simplicity. (Definitely a good fit. I do love a good cull.) Only weeks away from the actual move (the third house I had made an offer on, and so surely third time lucky) family events erupted which ultimately meant I ended up not moving at all.

Here is not the place to talk about those events, which are still painfully raw, but it meant that once again the novel writing had to be relegated to an even lower position down the league table of my priorities. I wasn’t sure, for a couple of months, if I would ever properly return to it. My heart was elsewhere, wrapped around with many layers of grief. Not surprisingly, given all the stress I was experiencing, I had been unwell throughout much of this time, from the end of last autumn all the way through to now. My chronic fibromyalgia, neuralgia and associated stomach problems, soared to new heights of suffering. I’m not complaining. I have learned to live with the physical effects of what was once dubbed “over-sensitivity”. Sometimes it proves an easier companion than others. Writing has been for me one of the ways of liberating myself from pain – emotional as well as physical. And so it proved this time, eventually.

I opened my laptop one day and saw the poor neglected file that held two thirds of the completed first draft of The Other Twin, and started to read it. By the time I got to the end, I had to find out what happened next… and there was only me to write it. I had fallen in love with my characters all over again. Who were they really, beneath the masks they had assumed for the purposes of the narrative? Verity had already changed since she was introduced at the start of the novel. She had matured, as I always intend for my characters, experience having enabled her to widen her emotional horizons and grow kinder and more insightful. It’s what we each hope for ourselves, after all. I wondered where her choices would lead her, and continued to write avidly, discovering along the way.

The ending surprised even me. Had I always meant for it to be this way? It had the ring of inevitability about it, but even so I toyed with the notion of alternatives. But no other kind of ending had the same integrity, and so I had to bow to the deeper wisdom of the muse, as so often before. It really does seem sometimes as though a novel writes itself.

Do I know any more about the psychology of twins after writing it? Do you understand more by reading it? As in most of my stories, I have explored those themes that haunt me: the sometimes banal face of evil – the corruption at the heart of human nature that pushes us towards acts of betrayal, manipulation and annihilation. I like to keep my canvas small. We see those themes writ large on the world stage, and are shocked by the things we read and hear on the news, the crimes we all agree are beyond the pale. And yet, there in the closeted world of our family, those themes resonate time and again, and we are often blind to them. It can feel safer simply to ignore them. I guess in my novels I hope to open your eyes to see what I see, and remember we are each the sum of the choices we make. In the end, that’s how we are known and remembered.

You can find The Other Twin on kindle at Amazon The Other Twin

Welsh Wednesdays Review: “The Man behind the Glass” by Greg Howes

24 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

23898903If you like stories set in Victorian London, Oliver, Jack the Ripper, Doctor Who or anything dark and mysterious then this is for you. A book full of surprises and intrigue.
We follow Septimus Blackwood, the main protagonist of this story, experimenting with a new type of photography. What he finds on his mission is more than he has bargained for, in terms of science and his own personal past. The philosophical meets science, legacy meets innovation.
The setting in the Victorian era lends itself to beautiful and also scary mysteries like this one. The beginning of a new school of science, fantastic innovations and the darkness of London’s alleys and tunnels provide a perfect setting that is chilling and compelling at the same time.

Find the book on Amazon Uk and Amazon US

Meet Greg at the Llandeilo Book Fair December 2016

Blurb:
“The Man Behind The Glass is based around a character called Septimus Blackwood, a Victorian photographer with a difference. The story is set in London’s East end in the year 1860 . It is predominantly a mystery adventure story, based on uncovering the hidden secrets of life and death and a quest for a missing legacy buried deep amongst the forgotten rivers and cellars beneath old London. It is also a race against time, Septimus not only finds himself competing against the tide,he is also at odds with the twin evils of Joseph Bazalgette’s new sewage system and the formation of what was to become known as London’s underground train network.
It takes the reader on a supernatural journey of intrigue, horror and unexpected fantastical explorations. Mid Victorian London, was a place and time unlike any other; it was a time of expansion, vision, exploration and experiment. It was also a time of great contrasts, in wealth, health and opportunities. This intriguing voyage of discovery combined with the highly satirical characters found therein takes you to the edge of your seat and beyond…

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